Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is certainly not the most popular man in North London these days, and he has made things worse by throwing some harsh accusations at Arsenal fans ahead of the game against Norwich City.
There have been several calls for Arsenal’s veteran French manager Arsene Wenger to leave the club at the end of yet another unsuccessful season. The fans had even produced a banner during the Gunners’ game against Hull City which said, ‘Arsene, thanks for the memories, but it’s time to say goodbye.’
Wenger had remained apathetic to that particular gesture, but invited further criticism with his latest comments.
“I can understand the frustration,” Wenger said, according to Sky Sports.
“No one is more frustrated than me, but our disappointment has not to go too far.
“When a club cannot enjoy anything any more, it is in trouble, and we have to not forget that in football you go down very quickly and you come up very slowly.
The Frenchman went on to imply that the fans were responsible for creating a bad home ground environment, which ended up adversely affecting results.
“We lost the championship at home against lower teams, but we played sometimes at home in a very difficult climate. Away we are championship winners.”
The fans are out for Arsene Wenger’s scalp
Arsenal fan groups have planned a protest during the Gunners’ game against Norwich City, which had in part provoked this backlash from Wenger. But his words will only serve to further anger the fans and strengthen their resolve to display their rage when Norwich City visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
This is a sad state of affairs for a team that were looking so dominant at the turn of the year. Arsenal were on top of the Premier League table and fans were over the moon at the prospect of landing their first Premier League title in over a decade. However, a terrible 2016 has meant the Gunners once again find themselves fighting for fourth place and this fall from grace has been agonizing for the club, players, board and fans.
It remains to be seen just how vehement the protests on Saturday will be, and they could have a direct bearing on whether Wenger manages to remain manager of Arsenal at the beginning of next season.
